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Exactly 510 days after the last Imperial Ball, the Imperial Ball 2024 took place – once again during the traditional ball season. The organisers were once again delighted to welcome a full house to the 14th Imperial Ball in the wonderful atmosphere of Korneuburg’s historic town hall.

Among the many guests of honour, Archduke Karl-Konstantin von Habsburg deserves special mention. The great-grandson of Emperor Karl I, to whom the Imperial Ball is dedicated, signed the Golden Book of the City of Korneuburg early in the evening at a champagne reception in the town hall. With this invitation, Mayor Christian Gepp, MSc, continued a tradition that has honoured us year after year.

To everyone’s delight, Archduke Karl-Konstantin appeared accompanied by his parents H.E. Ambassador HIRH Georg von Habsburg and his dear wife HIRH Eilika von Habsburg, which once again emphasised the high status of the Imperial Ball in the context of the imperial and royal tradition.

It is not possible to list the many representatives of the traditional regiments here, but we are happy to let the numerous pictures on the Kaiserball website do the talking. In any case, we are delighted that the Ball of the Traditional Regiments – organised and hosted by Infantry Regiment 49 and Dragoon Regiment 2 together with the UEHMG – was once again so well attended by the uniformed traditional community in 2024.

One of the first highlights was the opening dance by the dance couples from the Wopienka dance school. The dance couples – active as a formation in the Tanzsportclub Rot-Weiss Wien – showed us their skills at the highest level even at midnight. In any case, the ball guests were obviously motivated to take to the dance floor themselves.

Our discotheque “Club Charles” was also very popular again. And those who just wanted to have a quiet and cosy time visited the frizzante bar and smokers’ lounge in the inner courtyard. As every year, we also put together 14 main prizes for the tombola at the 14th Kaiserball. High-quality gifts from supporters of the ball were handed over to surprised and delighted ball guests – ranging from original posters from the imperial and royal era to dance lessons, a wellness weekend and a candlelight dinner.

Catering was once again provided by our k.u.k. court kitchen with à la carte specialities. The official part of the ball ended with the midnight quadrille and midnight snack, which was the start of the real entertainment for the organisers and many guests. The hard core, of course, stayed up until the final stroke at 4am. A few hours of light-heartedness and camaraderie were good for all the guests and we are already looking forward to the interim anniversary at the 15th Kaiserball!

> Click here for impressions of the Kaiserball 2024

With great dismay and sadness we have the duty to announce that our comrade Major-General iTR Günther Mayer fell asleep peacefully on 5 January 2024 and passed away.

The President of the Union of the European Historical Military Groups, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, the Board, the Presidium and all comrades of the UEHMG express their deep sympathy to the bereaved for this heavy loss.

The UEHMG will keep an honorable memory of its well-deserved comrade.

Ehingen had never seen such a large number of soldiers in colourful jackets before, with more than 50 militia corps announcing their presence at the national meeting on 23 and 24 September 2023. Around 1500 city soldiers marched into the stadium on Saturday evening for the „Big tattoo“.

It was the first joint tattoo of the civil defence corps of Württemberg-Hohenzollern and Baden-Südhessen; only in 1956 had there been a joint parade. “The Baden-Württemberg idea is thus brought to life,” said the commander of the Württemberg-Hohenzollern corps, Colonel iTR Jürgen Rosenäcker. Correspondingly, there was also the interest of the people who sat and stood close together in the stands, including the head of the House of Württemberg, Duke Wilhelm, with his speaker Joachim Butz. On behalf of the UEHMG, President Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, personally attended the two-day celebrations.

Interior minister of Baden-Württemberg, Thomas Strobl, was escorted to the stadium by chief mayor Alexander Baumann, mayor Tobias Huber and state parliament member and parliamentary group leader Manuel Hagel. All spectators would have liked a little more illumination in the stadium, because unfortunately they couldn’t see much of the colorful uniforms of the more than 50 corps, but everyone was still greeted with lots of applause.

The commander of the Ehinger militia, Captain iTR Josef Stocker, took over the report to the two national commanders, Colonel iTR Jürgen Rosenäcker and Colonel iTR Hans-Joachim Böhm, “Big tattoo started”. Then followed the serenade, played by the marching band of the Ehingen militia.

An important part of the national meeting was the handover of the national standard from the organizer of the last Württemberg-Hohenzollern national meeting, the Menges militia guard, to the Ehingen militia guard. Then came the luring by the marching band, reminiscent of the drum signals, the fanfare calls and the command “helmet off” for prayer.

Afterwards, many spectators and city soldiers sang the national anthem together. After Commander Captain iTR Stocker had signed off on the Great Tattoo, all the militia corps marched past the front of honor to celebrate in the large marquee. The musicians from the Neuhausen Citizens’ Guard soon created a great atmosphere here, before the Dächingen Music Association played to entertain the guests.

At the commander’s reception at the mayor there were many words of praise for the Ehingen Historical Citizens’ Guard, after a field mass had already taken place in the morning with all uniformed officers in the stadium.

Ehingen’s chief mayor Alexander Baumann described this national meeting as nothing less than a “historic hour” for the city of Ehingen, but also the state of Baden-Württemberg – the first of its kind with both national associations in one place. Colonel iTR Jürgen Rosenäcker, commander of the Württemberg-Hohenzollern corps, spoke of a “unique meeting” and emphasized that the militia preserve “cultural and traditional values”. Colonel iTR Rosenäcker described the citizens in colorful jackets as an “unmissable splash of color” at many receptions and thanked Ehingen for the organization. His counterpart, Colonel iTR Hans-Joachim Böhm from the Baden-Südhessen militia, spoke of a “Herculean task in preparation” and insisted on calling his corps “big brother”. Although the association is smaller, it was founded 92 years ago and is therefore the older one.

Joachim Butz, the personal advisor to the deceased Carl Duke of Württemberg, spoke on behalf of the House of Württemberg and was able to posthumously award the Herzog Carl Medal of Merit to Commander Colonel iTR Jürgen Rosenäcker and Professor Urban Bacher for their services to the circle of friends of the militia.

The President of the UEHMG, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, from Vienna, who described himself as a living traditionalist and also claimed “appropriate speaking time” for his 1,300 kilometer journey to and from Ehingen, had one of the longest journeys to the Danube city. He described this unique national meeting of the two associations as “truly a highlight” and said: “Here we can transport the values of the past into the present and pass them on to the future.” Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc also used the opportunity to award Colonel iTR Hans Härtl the Great Golden Medal of Honor for his decades of voluntary work in the UEHMG.

During the subsequent parade through Ehingen’s city center, the „citizens in colorful jackets“ showed off their best side, always accompanied by the respective marching and city bands. The music clubs from Kirchbierlingen, Mundingen, Kirchen and Frankenhofen were also there and were able to contribute their part to the success of the parade. The end of the national meeting took place both in the city center and in the festival tent.

Fotos: Landesverband der Bürgerwehren und Milizen Baden-Südhessen

The first comrades had already arrived in Karlovac on Thursday, 24 August to get in the mood for the days ahead at a convivial dinner. It was particularly pleasing that some accompanying persons and even children took part in this first meeting.

After a visit to the Karlovac Brewery on Friday morning, the participants met for a get-together at the Korana Hotel, where the main meeting of the General Rapport was held in the conference room.

The district prefect Martina Furdek Hajdin and the mayor of Karlovac, Damir Mandić, were welcomed as guests of honour. After the solemn commemoration of the dead and the playing of the national anthem, the agenda of the meeting was worked through. An essential part was the presentation of the tradition workshop from June of this year. The most important results were presented, such as the establishment of a support fund, the redesign of the UEHMG folder and the production of new merchandising articles.

Innovations were also presented in terms of personnel. Captain iTR Christian Zehetmayer was elected Secretary General and the Austrian associations were divided between two liaison officers: Sergeant iTR Ralph Schweiger will be responsible for Austria North-East (incl. the Czech Republic and Hungary) and Warrent Officer II iTR Hans-Peter Haberditz for Austria South-West.

In the evening, a joint dinner was held, during which the President, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, encouraged all the country representatives to sing a song typical of each country at the end of the day.

Saturday morning began with the parade in front of the Karlovac Theatre and a march to the memorial of deceased war veterans, where a wreath-laying ceremony and the lighting of numerous candles took place. The rest of the day was dedicated to the social programme, such as a shooting competition, a guided city tour, a visit to the Nikola Tesla Museum and the Aquarium.

The official part of the General Report 2023 ended with a convivial dinner on the outskirts of Karlovac, where the award ceremony for the shooting competition was also held.

Interested persons could voluntarily attend the mass in St Joseph’s Church on Sunday, where President Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc also gave the reading.

The UEHMG would like to thank the Karlovac Guard for the great organisation. With great motivation we are looking forward to the continuation of the Tradition Workshop in November and the General Rapport 2024.

See here impressions of the General Rapport 2023:

On Sunday, 20 August 2023, the k. u. k. Dragonerregiment 2 Nikolaus Graf Pejacsevich celebrated the imperial birthdays of Emperor Karl I (136th birthday on 17 August) and Emperor Franz Josef (193rd birthday on 18 August) in Laxenburg for the first time.

The 33 degrees outside temperature was more than a challenge for all present, but with perseverance, joy, comradeship and dignity befitting the occasion, it turned out to be a successful afternoon. A traditional group consisting of the Deutschmeisterchützenkorps, the Landwehr IR2 from Linz, the riding Artilleriedivision 2, the Landwehr Ulanen 6 around the Dragonerregiment 2 held a solemn ceremony, which was under the honorary patronage of HIRH Camilla von Habsburg-Lothringen.

The report was sent to the highest-ranking military officer, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, President of the UEWHG, who also provided organisational support for the event.

Father Sebastian Hacker celebrated the field prayer at the field altar of the Landwehr IR2, which houses a relic of the blessed Emperor Karl. The subsequent triple cannon salute of the RAD 2 with a WW I gun was impressive.

At the end of the celebrations, the Military Chancellery took the opportunity to pay tribute to deserving comrades of the former Board.

Over goulash and cool drinks, many good, comradely conversations were held and it was firmly resolved that these commemorative days would also be celebrated in the future.

> to the article on the website of the Dragoon Regiment 2

Photos: Austrian Cavalry Association

According to this slogan, the traditional large-scale event called “Montur und Pulverdampf” took place in the heat of the day at the Vienna Museum of Military History (Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Wien) on 8 and 9 July. A colourful programme was offered with field camps, medieval market, show fights, handicrafts, children’s programme and performances by various groups.

Unfortunately, the comrades in “uniform” were only represented by the Lützower Artillerie 1813 “Traugott Fritze” and us, the traditional battery of the “Reitende Artilleriedivision Nr. 2”.

On Sunday, we received support from some comrades of the k.u.k. Infanterie Regiment “König der Hellenen” Nr. 99. I was also very pleased about the visit of a delegation of Hungarian comrades, and we have already planned joint activities for 2024 (110th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War) and will continue to work on this as well as maintaining in contact.

I truly hope that more regiments and groups will present themselves in “uniform” next year at this event next year.

The riding training cadre of the dragoon regiment no. 3 in the former imperial and royal military riding and driving training institute Schlosshof organised the Marchfeld Castle Ride again this year – already for the 30th time. This ride took place under the patronage of former Federal Minister Dr. Werner Fasslabend and under the patronage of Hungary’s special ambassador Archduke Georg Habsburg.

The event took place from 26 to 29 May 2023 in cooperation and with the support of Mag. Klaus Panholzer, Managing Director of Schloss Schönbrunn Betriebs- und Kulturges.m.b.H., the heads of the event department, the animal department of Schloss Hof, the municipalities, the Federal Forests and the regional hunting community.

This year the castle ride was again included in the NOEPS Outdoor Riders Cup with the highest number of points. The 30th anniversary castle ride/drive was opened on Friday in the festive setting of Orangerie West in Schlosshof with a champagne reception.

Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner sent us all the best and warm greetings for the implementation of the event, the organisation and the participants. In addition to the more than 150 participants, accompanying persons, guests and guests of honour from culture and sport as well as the surrounding communities, the organiser Hans Günter Ebetshuber was able to welcome, among others, Dr. Werner Fasslabend with his wife, Vice-President of the Austrian Sports Teachers Association Peter Schimanek with his wife as well as the Managing Director of Marchegg Castle Andreas Pataki with his wife.

As a supporter and patron since the first hour of our traditional regiment (almost 35 years), Dr. Werner Fasslabend was honoured with the golden badge of honour with green laurel wreath. In his subsequent speech, he spoke about Prince Eugene, who reformed the cavalry, and about the riding and driving instructors’ institute in Schlosshof. Even in the early days when the Schlösserverein began to activate Schlosshof, Dr. Werner Fasslabend and Kom.Rat. Bibersteiner were of the opinion that the Dragoon Regiment No. 3 belonged at Schlosshof. He thanked the commander of DR 3 Hans Günter Ebetshuber for his tireless efforts, his commitment for over 30 years and for setting an example for all cavalrymen. The regimental bugler Zgsf. Günter Ringhofer was promoted to sergeant-at-arms by Commander Hans Günter Ebetshuber in recognition of his services to the Traditional Dragoon Regiment No. 3.

Afterwards, the opportunity was taken to visit the exhibition in the castle and the various special competitions in the castle grounds.

By riding on historical ground, the riders learn “interesting facts” about Austrian history through our info sheets; by delivering a dispatch at the midday rest, this knowledge, after opening it, could score extra points.

The competitions were again held in two categories this year. The A-competition with a total distance of approx. 80 km for both days, with special stages on the way, directly in Schlosshof or during the lunch break in Schloss Eckartsau or Schloss Marchegg. Among other things, the Haringsee shooting range was ridden to, where the k.u.k. officer’s pistol was used for resting and shooting. Rast und Gasser officers’ pistols were used to score further points.

The special tasks included fording, hand-horse riding, overcoming natural obstacles in the group, individual jumping over natural obstacles on the next day, estimating distances, cone course for the carriages, reading the map, etc., where points could also be collected.

HONOUR:

Before the award ceremony, KR Gerold Dautzenberg, former President of NOEPS, was presented with the Golden Badge of Honour with green laurel wreath for his support and promotion of the Marchfeld Castle Ride.

12 participants (competition A) did well in the special tests and completed the total distance of approx. 80 km without any mistakes. Of these, 4 participants were proud to receive the cavalry performance badge for orienteering and trail riding in bronze.

Also this year, after placing three times, 3 participants achieved the cavalry performance badge for orienteering and trail riding in silver, presented by the managing director of Marchegg Castle, Andreas Pataki, and the commander of DR 3, Colonel Hans Günter Ebetshuber, bearer of the golden badge of honour of the Lower Austrian Equestrian Sports Association.

The competition B with a total of approx. 50 km on both days was well received by the 35 participants and was rated separately. Furthermore, three carriages – among them two two-in-hand and one four-in-hand with four white Lipizzan horses – completed the long distance of 80 km.

The highest military score was achieved for the second time by OLt. Ivor Schiller (Dragoon Regiment No. 5), who also completed the course flawlessly for his regiment. The honorary cup of Karl Habsburg was presented to him for another year. The performance of DR 5 from Styria, which entered the competition with two groups, deserves special mention. DR 3 and DR 4 were also represented on horseback.

Unfortunately, no other cavalrymen from the Austrian Cavalry Association took part this year. We would be very pleased if, in addition to the strong civilian cavalry groups, members of the Austrian Cavalry Association would again be present on horseback at the 31st Castle Ride from 30 May to 2 June 2024.

Once again, we would like to thank the Lower Austrian Equestrian Federation for their support through President Petra Choc and Gerold Dautzenberg as well as the Geiger family’s company “Die Werbegestalten”. A big thank you goes of course again to all our helpers, without whom such an event would not be possible.

After the gala dinner in the restaurant “Zum weißen Pfau”, the organiser handed over the stable chains, stiches, certificates and prizes.

Results of 30th Marchfeld Castle Ride

Competition A (approx. 80 km in two days)

1. place: Dr. Yvonne Stark-Ziegler, Vanessa Mitterer, Carmen Merwald, Gerda Göttlich, Marie Theres Tomasich
2. place: Daniela Schäfer and Otto Buchheit
3. place: Christoph Allgäuer and Sabine Fritz

Competition B (approx. 50 km in two days)

1. place: Caroline Geiger, Finian Geiger, Carla Hartberger, Sophie Mikula, Lea Hager
2. place: Olt. Ivor Schiller, Ptf. Evelin Schiller, Korp. Alexandra Thür
3. place: Michaela Pinisch, Jennifer Schirk, Sarah Maynard

Competition carriages 80 and 50 km

1. place (80 km): Sonja Högler, Erwin Baischer, Florentine Högler, Motiz Ditrich

1. place (50 km): Norbert Linsbichler, Michaela Gutschka, Beatrix and Eric Graf

1. place (50 km): Iris Muhm and Lydia Glatz

Photos: Carla Hartberger, Erwin Nader and private

The UEHMG had already been recognised for many years by the Austrian Armed Forces as an association relevant to defence policy, and now the official distinction of being a partner of the Austrian Armed Forces has been further extended by a decree of the Federal Minister of Defence.

Within the Tradition Day of the NBC Defence Centre, the partnership with the UEHMG was formally concluded by the handing over of the certificate by the Commander, Colonel Mag. Jürgen Schlechter, to the President, Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc.

Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc, who attended the ceremony in his uniform as a colonel of the Austrian Armed Forces, pointed out in his speech the objectives of the UEHMG and the intersections with the Austrian Armed Forces.

In the following social part of the event, the numerous representatives of the UEHMG and the comrades of the Austrian Armed Forces were able to perform the first joint act of cultivating tradition.

On 23 April 2023, the UEHMG accepted an invitation from the Old Austrian Landsmannschaften (VLÖ) to attend the opening of the season at the Südmährerhof in the Niedersulz Museum Village, where it was also the 40th anniversary of the planting of a lime tree by Empress Zita.

VLÖ President Norbert Kapeller welcomed numerous guests of honour, above all HIRH Karl von Habsburg as grandson of the last Empress. In entertaining reminiscences, our Grand Master told of how the tree planting came about and of incidents involving his grandmother.

The UEHMG was represented by several flag delegations under the organisation of Liaison Officer Captain iTR Christian M. Zehetmayer and by President Major General iTR Michael Blaha, MSc.

A visit to the newly designed museum in the Südmährerhof rounded off the event and a trip to the Niedersulz Museum Village can only be recommended.